1. Learn Vocabulary - Learn some new vocabulary before you start the lesson.

2. Read and Prepare
- Read the introduction and prepare to hear the audio.

Golf is one of those rare games where a lower score is better. Each hole has a number called par, which is how many strokes it should take to complete. If it takes you fewer attempts than par, you’re more likely to beat your opponents.

Not only are Yani Tseng’s scores low, but her age is, too. At 22, she is the youngest man or woman to win five major golf championships. This Taiwanese superstar is currently ranked number 1 in the world, and with the LPGA tour about reach Asia, she was happy to meet with us to discuss her experience learning English and share some useful golf terms.

3. Watch
- Watch the video without reading the dialog.

Dialog

1. Listen and Read
- Listen to the audio and read the dialog at the same time.

2. Study
- Read the dialog again to see how the vocab words are used.

Jason: Welcome to English, baby! I am Jason here with Yani Tseng. How are you?

Yani: Good. Hi!

Jason: We were hoping you could teach us some terms today. We’re gonna start with the term “par.”

Yani: We have par 5 and par 4 and par 3, that’s like a long hole, short hole and middle and if that hole is a par 4 and we make 4, that means par.

Jason: So each hole has a number of strokes that you’re allowed and that’s…

Yani: 3 or 4 or 5. That’s the most stroke we allowed. So we’re on par 3, and we make 3, that means par. If we make 2, that means birdie. If we make four that means bogey.

Jason: OK, so if you’re one better than par, it’s a birdie…

Yani: Yes.

Jason: Birdie is actually an interesting term. Did you ever have a pet bird when you were growing up or did anyone in your family have a pet bird?

Yani: No, but I went to the zoo and bought a bird keychain to put on my golf bag because that means now bird is my good friend and all the player loves bird so when I see that bird, I tell myself, I need to make birdies.

Jason: I wanted to talk about learning English. When did you start learning English and when did you learn most of your English.

Yani: Actually, I went to school last year, end of last year for three weeks and I think that helps a lot because I never learning English from a book. Now I learn more grammars and speaking learning and vocabulary more and I think it helps a lot for this year for sure. But the other way I learned English, just keep talking. Don’t be afraid to talk to people and that way you can learn a lot.

Quizzes

Lesson MP3

Discussion

Yani learned most of her English from talking to people. She recently took an English course to help her learn more grammar and vocabulary, but she says the most important thing is not to be afraid to talk to people.

You can see Yani’s boldness on the golf course, too. She explains that the term par refers to how many attempts a golfer should use on a given hole. But Yani is always determined to be better than par. She even carries a bird keychain on her golf bag to remind her to make birdies, which are one stroke better than par.

Outside of golf, there are many idioms that use the word par. If something is on par with another thing, it means they are equal. If something is subpar it means that it is poor quality. Finally, you can describe something that happens regularly as par for the course. If you often have to work late, you could say “staying late is par for the course at my job.”
Have you ever carried an object to remind you of something or bring good luck? Describe something that is “par for the course” in your life.